[Gavtech]

There was a software update for BWT700 and 800 (UK Version) in the middle of April.

...to Version 1.31

To check if you have the current version and to get it if necessary, see instructions here.

[trimjf]

Changing a Timer recording to weekly when set from guide and doesn't have Series record option?

Some shows you select in the guide do not have a series record option, but if you set them through the guide it won't then let you modify the timer to be weekly - is there a way around this?

Cheers

Jon

[Costas]

Originally Posted by trimjf

Changing a Timer recording to weekly when set from guide and doesn't have Series record option?

Some shows you select in the guide do not have a series record option, but if you set them through the guide it won't then let you modify the timer to be weekly - is there a way around this?

Cheers

Jon

Yes, set up the recording as you wish through the timer without gonig to the EPG

[trimjf]

Originally Posted by Costas

Yes, set up the recording as you wish through the timer without gonig to the EPG

Thank you fir response. Just to be absolutely clear...you're saying you have to:

- Go to guide
- Find show
- Note down times and channel
- Get out of guide
- Go to menu
- Select timer...etc etc

Which Is very convoluted compared to:

- Go to guide
- Find show and select to record
- Modify to be weekly

which is what I could do on my old Sony. Is the latter not possible? If not, this appears to be a significant usability oversight!

Cheers

Jon

[Gavtech]

Originally Posted by trimjf

Thank you fir response. Just to be absolutely clear...you're saying you have to:

- Go to guide
- Find show
- Note down times and channel
- Get out of guide
- Go to menu
- Select timer...etc etc

Which Is very convoluted compared to:

- Go to guide
- Find show and select to record
- Modify to be weekly

which is what I could do on my old Sony. Is the latter not possible? If not, this appears to be a significant usability oversight!

Cheers

Jon

It is important to be clear about a few things here.

A weekly timer is not the same as a series timer.
A weekly timer is a manually driven timer, Series recording is controlled by EPG data.
A weekly timer would go on for ever. A series timer only as long as the series is broadcast.
Additionally a Series timer is recorded no matter when the programme is broadcast, whereas a weekly timer will be exactly that.

Series timer options are dependent on guide data supplied by the broadcasters. I don't think this is anything to do with the machine.
If they do not provide Series record options then there is no workaround.

I don't know why these anomalies occur ...or if cleaning out all the EPG data and refreshing it would change this - I strongly suspect not.

For reasons best known to themselves broadcasters, for some programmes, do not provide a series record option... and sometimes they will do it for a programme one week and not for another.

For any timer already programmed you can press 'Prog Check' to access it and change any parameters you wish ... but not all parameters will be accessible.... especially where recording is dependent on EPG Data, as is the case with Series recording.

[Costas]

Originally Posted by trimjf

Thank you fir response. Just to be absolutely clear...you're saying you have to:

- Go to guide
- Find show
- Note down times and channel
- Get out of guide
- Go to menu
- Select timer...etc etc

Which Is very convoluted compared to:

- Go to guide
- Find show and select to record
- Modify to be weekly

which is what I could do on my old Sony. Is the latter not possible? If not, this appears to be a significant usability oversight!

Cheers

Jon

Yes, get the information from guide, magazine... etc. Then knowing when the program is on go and program the timer accordingly.

I suggest you extend the end recording time to cover rare cases where the program may be unexpectedly delayed by the broacaster

[Crunchie]

I just discovered a great facility on my BWT700 that I never knew I had. I'd recorded my AVCHD camcorder footage to the hard disc in DR mode and it let me copy the footage uncompressed onto a regular DVD. The finalised DVD is now a BD disc and plays perfectly on my Sony DVD Player and it's in the same HD resolution as the native footage I shot (15 Mbs). I can fit over half an hour of my HD footage onto a regular DVD disc that's playable on both Panasonic and Sony players which means it should be universal. This is ideal for shorter HD camcorder compilations rather than only using a very small portion of an expensive BD Blank disc. I'd previously had to convert my AVCHD footage from DR to HA in order to get the recorded BD disc to play on the Sony player and this conversion reduced the resolution to about 11 Mbs, but, using a cheaper, regular DVD blank instead, I can keep the full DR resolution on a DVD disc and still have universal compatibilty

Nice one, Panasonic!

[chrishull3]

Having ordered a BWT700 i started reading this thread and after 2 pages i tried to cancel my order only to be told it was already shipped[as if]
What i dont get is the fact if BDs are recorded in the highest quality modes they will not play on other BD players,i dont get the fact that over 6 hours can go on a disc at best quality,with my own blu rays made on my pc best quality is 2 hours at most on a 25GB disc,what have i done ? will these machines record proper blu ray quality discs ? ie copies from my own camera blu rays or from tv material or are they as i now fear i big con

My own fault for not reading the thread first i know.

[Gavtech]

Originally Posted by chrishull3

What i dont get is the fact if BDs are recorded in the highest quality modes they will not play on other BD players,

i dont get the fact that over 6 hours can go on a disc at best quality,with my own blu rays made on my pc best quality is 2 hours at most on a 25GB disc,what have i done ? will these machines record proper blu ray quality discs ? ie copies from my own camera blu rays or from tv material or are they as i now fear i big con

There is no con here.

Problems arise for two reasons:

1) It is an advanced technology that has aspects that are not backwards compatible. Not all exiting equipment can deal with what it produces. Is it the fault of this machine - or the others which are not compatible?
Neither really - it is just a given of technology development.

2) The stringent security imposed upon HD development by Hollywood.


The quality issue is dependent on compression standards that are used.
Broadcasting rates are more severely compressed than commercial bluray disc material or self generated camcorder material.
It is possible to get 6 to 8 hours of prime broadcast quality onto a bluray disc because that is what is broadcast.
It has nothing at all to do with the machine.

For more background information see this sticky thread.

[chrishull3]

Originally Posted by Gavtech

There is no con here.

Problems arise for two reasons:

1) It is an advanced technology that has aspects that are not backwards compatible. Not all exiting equipment can deal with what it produces. Is it the fault of this machine - or the others which are not compatible?
Neither really - it is just a given of technology development.

2) The stringent security imposed upon HD development by Hollywood.


The quality issue is dependent on compression standards that are used.
Broadcasting rates are more severely compressed than commercial bluray disc material or self generated camcorder material.
It is possible to get 6 to 8 hours of prime broadcast quality onto a bluray disc because that is what is broadcast.
It has nothing at all to do with the machine.

For more background information see this sticky thread.

Well in a nutshell and to save me opening up and wasting time trying to use it,will this machine play my Blu Rays made from camcorder and DSLR footage ? will it copy them to the hard drive at a similar quality to the Blu Rays so if i wanted to i could copy back to a disc in the future,i think by reading the thread i am correct saying if i record from tv it has to be in DR mode,i am still unclear how i record hd tv to the HD so that a universal playable Blu Ray disc can be recorded,
Any help appreciated as i know i should have looked into this more before making a purchase.

[Crunchie]

The machine will accept from an SD card any AVCHD footage and, if you transfer into the machine at DR mode, then you can archive it to a Blu-ray disc without adding compression, or archive about 30-45 minutes to a regular DVD disc in 100% Blu-ray quality for universal compatibility. If you prefer to record material to a Blu-ray disc to also play on any other Blu-ray player then you need to convert the DR AVCHD footage on the hard drive to HA quality before burning. When I tried this I couldn't see any quality loss at all on my 46" TV. In summary, I would archive your highest recorded quality AVCHD camcorder footage to a regular DVD disc at original DR quality which will 100% preserve the HD bitrate of your original footage. And you can play the resulting DVD on any Blu-ray player in full HD.

Recording DR-mode TV broadcasts to a BD disc in DR-mode preserves the quality of the original broadcast, but, and only to play on other machines, you should convert it to HA-mode before burning. You cannot record HDTV to a regular DVD without downconverting the material to SD (but you can record AVCHD recordings to a DVD disc and to a BD disc in full HD quality).

[ahwadsworth]

I am completely new to using a wireless-router-linked blue ray recorder, in my case the DMR-BWT800, which is working perfectly (so far) in all respects bar one.

I can access and view programs on BBC I-player, etc, via the Viera Link facility, so I know I have linked the player to my home network via the router.

However, for some as yet unknown reason, going into FUNCTION MENU to Network to Home Network(DNLA), I cannot see our Windows 7 based laptop on the network. According to instructions on p.83 of the manual, it should be visible.

Any help/advice provided for this problem would be extremely appreciated, as I would like to be able to play PC-based Windows Media Player AV files on my TV.

Kind regards, Alan.

[chrishull3]

Originally Posted by Crunchie

The machine will accept from an SD card any AVCHD footage and, if you transfer into the machine at DR mode, then you can archive it to a Blu-ray disc without adding compression, or archive about 30-45 minutes to a regular DVD disc in 100% Blu-ray quality for universal compatibility. If you prefer to record material to a Blu-ray disc to also play on any other Blu-ray player then you need to convert the DR AVCHD footage on the hard drive to HA quality before burning. When I tried this I couldn't see any quality loss at all on my 46" TV. In summary, I would archive your highest recorded quality AVCHD camcorder footage to a regular DVD disc at original DR quality which will 100% preserve the HD bitrate of your original footage. And you can play the resulting DVD on any Blu-ray player in full HD.

Recording DR-mode TV broadcasts to a BD disc in DR-mode preserves the quality of the original broadcast, but, and only to play on other machines, you should convert it to HA-mode before burning. You cannot record HDTV to a regular DVD without downconverting the material to SD (but you can record AVCHD recordings to a DVD disc and to a BD disc in full HD quality).

Thanks but what about the most important thing for me copying Blu Rays [non copywrite]my home made to the hard drive.

[Crunchie]

I've never tried this method, but if the Blu-rays are in AVCHD format then I would think you can simply copy them to the hard drive and back out to another blank (BD or DVD) all in DR mode, i.e. 100% quality of the source material.

[chrishull3]

Originally Posted by Crunchie

I've never tried this method, but if the Blu-rays are in AVCHD format then I would think you can simply copy them to the hard drive and back out to another blank (BD or DVD) all in DR mode, i.e. 100% quality of the source material.

As far as i am aware blu ray and avchd discs are different formats completely
and reading the manual it does seem bds can be copied to the drive,if a bd copy is required the setting would need to be lower than DR mode if compatability is required ,the manual says on page 62 that it can ,i wonder if any one else has has copied home made blu rays to drive.

It now seem they have cancelled my order so i will think again in the future when they improve before thinking of getting one.

[zimbo000]

Originally Posted by ahwadsworth

However, for some as yet unknown reason, going into FUNCTION MENU to Network to Home Network(DNLA), I cannot see our Windows 7 based laptop on the network. According to instructions on p.83 of the manual, it should be visible.

Have you shared the media library on the laptop so it can be seen by other network devices like your TV? I do this via Windows Media Player and can see all my music on the TV and on my amplifier.

[ahwadsworth]

Thanks! - I've now had the problem solved via a suggestion in another thread, which suggested that I turn on media streaming in the network and sharing centre - this may be what you were suggesting.

[woottonman]

I have a dmr-bwt700 and despite my best efforts, the hard drive often gets full - obviously due to having two tuners and more opportunities to record programmes to watch ("in a day or two").

I've archived some programmes off to BD-RE discs but have now filled up the ten I bought. I wa going to buy some more but realised I have an old Maxtor external usb HDD and had a cunning plan to format it for use with my bwt700.

I tried formatting this external HDD to use the FAT32 file system thinking this would be recognised by the recorder .. but no joy. Has anyone managed to successfully format an external usb HDD and if so, could you pass on details of what software etc. you used.

[Gavtech]

Originally Posted by woottonman

I have a dmr-bwt700 and despite my best efforts, the hard drive often gets full - obviously due to having two tuners and more opportunities to record programmes to watch ("in a day or two").

I've archived some programmes off to BD-RE discs but have now filled up the ten I bought. I wa going to buy some more but realised I have an old Maxtor external usb HDD and had a cunning plan to format it for use with my bwt700.

I tried formatting this external HDD to use the FAT32 file system thinking this would be recognised by the recorder .. but no joy. Has anyone managed to successfully format an external usb HDD and if so, could you pass on details of what software etc. you used.

The BWT700 and 800 do not support this function.

It is a newly introduced function on the BWT720... and the hard drive has to be formatted by the machine with the unique form of formatting required.

[Crunchie]

Am I right that - unlike previous Panasonic recorders - it's not possible to record a live TV programme at XP directly to a blank DVD?

I recorded the short programme at XP onto the hard drive hoping to be able to dub it in high speed onto a DVD, but, instead, the machine asked me to dub it in real time using XP mode! (as I had already done to the HDD). is this also right?

[Gavtech]

Originally Posted by Crunchie

Am I right that - unlike previous Panasonic recorders - it's not possible to record a live TV programme at XP directly to a blank DVD?

Yes - All recordings have to be done to the hard drive first.

Originally Posted by Crunchie

I recorded the short programme at XP onto the hard drive hoping to be able to dub it in high speed onto a DVD, but, instead, the machine asked me to dub it in real time using XP mode! (as I had already done to the HDD). is this also right?

This would normally be possible but can be affected by other variables.
The format of the disc blank being one of the most important...Other factors such as mixed aspect ratios can prevent the high speed copying option.

[Crunchie]

Originally Posted by Gavtech

...The format of the disc blank being one of the most important...Other factors such as mixed aspect ratios can prevent the high speed copying option

The blank was ready-to-go (DVD-R) and it was just the one half-hour programme in 16:9. But I did ask it to record the subtitles - could this be it?

Thanks Gavtech

[Gavtech]

Originally Posted by Crunchie

The blank was ready-to-go (DVD-R) and it was just the one half-hour programme in 16:9. But I did ask it to record the subtitles - could this be it?

Yes - that would be the reason.

[Crunchie]

Thank you

[woottonman]

On asking for advice on using an external usb HDD ..

Originally Posted by Gavtech

The BWT700 and 800 do not support this function.

It is a newly introduced function on the BWT720... and the hard drive has to be formatted by the machine with the unique form of formatting required.

Okay .. thanks for the info Gavtech. I shall get some more BD-RE discs in that case and continue using them .. or actually watch some of these programmes I keep recording!

[treefrog]

Hi

I'm just getting to grips with the archiving aspects of the BWT700 and have hit a problem.

I recorded the 2012 opening ceremony which was broadcast in 5.1 Dolby Digital and the DR version is fine however I have created an HG copy which according to my receiver has 5.1 audio but there is nothing coming out of the center channel at all. It sounds like bog standard stereo.

I have the setting under sound for HG, HX, etc set to 5.1

If anybody could throw some light on where I'm going wrong it would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

[Gavtech]

Originally Posted by treefrog

Hi

I'm just getting to grips with the archiving aspects of the BWT700 and have hit a problem.

I recorded the 2012 opening ceremony which was broadcast in 5.1 Dolby Digital and the DR version is fine however I have created an HG copy which according to my receiver has 5.1 audio but there is nothing coming out of the center channel at all. It sounds like bog standard stereo.

I have the setting under sound for HG, HX, etc set to 5.1

If anybody could throw some light on where I'm going wrong it would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

Please see this thread.

[treefrog]

Originally Posted by Gavtech

Please see this thread.

Thanks Gavtech. That's put my mind at rest.

There did seem to be a little coming out of the center in DR mode - You had to put your ear close to the speaker to hear it. This was completely lost in the conversion to HG. Is this normal?

I know that my firmware is not fully up to date and wondered if any changes have been made in this area.

[Crunchie]

Does anyone know if - because of the maximum bitrate playback of the regular DVD disc format - an HA AVC-HD 1080i recording transferred at DR onto the hard drive and then dubbed at DR onto a regular DVD (no conversion, 1080i format) will differ in any way from the source recording in regards to bitrate and picture quality? I believe the bitrate of the BWT700's highest AVC-HD recording format (HA) is 17 Mbs VBR, so I'm wondering if I'm sacrificing picture quality by transferring such HD footage uncompressed onto a regular DVD (around 35 minutes per disc) instead of using a BD disc (many hours of storage available on a BD disc). Thanks.

[Gavtech]

Originally Posted by Crunchie

Does anyone know if - because of the maximum bitrate playback of the regular DVD disc format - an HA AVC-HD 1080i recording transferred at DR onto the hard drive and then dubbed at DR onto a regular DVD (no conversion, 1080i format) will differ in any way from the source recording in regards to bitrate and picture quality? I believe the bitrate of the BWT700's highest AVC-HD recording format (HA) is 17 Mbs VBR, so I'm wondering if I'm sacrificing picture quality by transferring such HD footage uncompressed onto a regular DVD (around 35 minutes per disc) instead of using a BD disc (many hours of storage available on a BD disc). Thanks.

The only thing here I am uncertain about is what you mean by: 'transferred at DR onto the hard drive and then dubbed at DR'

If you mean as I think you do that you, to high speed copy the material in both cases, then there is never any processing done in a high speed copy.
It is purely digital cloning... and so any generation is identical to the first and can have no quality degradation.